Local pediatrician releases book featuring funny tales from the trenches

For 25 years, Dr. Brian Benfield has been charming and been charmed by his patients at Shelby Children’s Clinic.

Over the years Benfield has collected countless stories of funny, insightful, frustrating and embarrassing moments that have occurred over his long career as a pediatrician, and he recently turned those experiences into a book.

“Roosters can cause concussions: and other things they did not teach me in medical school” will be released April 1 and is available for purchase on Amazon and at other booksellers.

There will be a book signing event at the Cleveland County Arts Council located at 111 S. Washington St., Shelby, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on April 20.

People can meet the author, purchase books and have them signed.

Benfield, who originally wanted to be a veterinarian, has long dreamed of writing a book similar in style to “All Creatures Great and Small” by James Herriot, who documented his adventures and misadventures of being a country vet.

Although he took a different path and ultimately ended up as a human doctor, he decided to publish the pediatrician version of All Creatures Great and Small.

He said the book features children and their parents saying and doing funny things, as well as many hilarious situations that occurred in his clinic.

“It is an inside glimpse into the funny world of a pediatrician,” he said.

The inside art work, which introduces each chapter, and the cover, was done by Cooper Bridges, a sophomore at Shelby High School and one of Benfield’s patients.

Benfield, who has always loved kids and finds them more entertaining than adults, said he 100% found his calling in life working with children and he enjoys using humor in his job, which comes through in his book as he recounts funny and embarrassing incidents.

“My job is not all laughter and fun, but even when I have a day filled with issues like those mentioned above, I know that my next room likely contains a small child who will do their best to make it all better by making me laugh or smile,” he said. “What other occupation has that?”

Benfield was born and raised in Lenoir and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He joined Shelby Children’s Clinic around 25 years ago. He is married, with one son and two daughters, and has lived on a farm in his home state since 2004. He said he still does not know what he wants to be when he grows up.

As he recounts in the opening chapter, the book got its start in the winter of 2000 shortly after he finished his pediatric residency and in the midst of a terrible flu epidemic at Shelby Children’s Clinic. He wrote that he was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of patients he was seeing each day.

“My nurse told me I had one more patient to see, but truthfully, I was just ready to go home,” he said. “Little did I know that this next patient would be the spark for a 20-plus year project of collecting stories for this book.”

Benfield told the story of how he accidentally got a shy patient to respond to him through a funny misunderstanding involving antibiotics and yogurt.

He said he doesn’t like writing, but after the encounter with that patient, he bought a tape recorder and after work every day he’d document the things that happened.

“I have tape after tape after tape,” he said.

Eventually, he had his collection transcribed, and he began turning it into a book.

Benfield said although there are plenty of stories about kids saying funny things, there is a whole chapter dedicated to him putting his foot in his mouth.

He said it ended up being the longest chapter.

“When I sat down and read all the things I've said and done, it's pretty embarrassing,” he said. “But that's what makes the book funny.”

Most of the tales are humorous, but Benfield said he also wanted it to be an honest and complete portrayal of what it is like as a pediatrician, and he included a chapter called “Holding my head” about some of the more difficult aspects of his job.

He said although the kids he works with are excited about his book, his intended audience was primarily the parents.

“I’m excited to have it done, and people get to read the stories,” he said. “People know my personality and know I'm a jokester and like to prank a lot. When I tell people, they say I don't believe you.”

He said he has to tell them, “I’m not kidding this time, I’m really telling the truth.”

For more information on the book and Brian Benfield, visit brianbenfieldmd.com.

This article originally appeared on The Shelby Star: Shelby pediatrician releases book featuring tales from the trenches